Game difficulty is a contentious topic. Some people see it as a challenge to overcome and rise to the occasion; others see it as a hindrance that prevents them from enjoying certain games due to their innate inaccessibility. There's no single answer to how difficult a game should be.

Courtesy of Glenn Carstens-Peters

Even game developers have diverse perspectives on difficulty. Their experimentation has shown that difficulty is not just about preventing boredom but also about providing long-term goals and rewards.

Let's explore how difficulty shapes game design and how developers use it to incentivize players.

Harder Difficulty, Higher Replayability

Early video game cartridges had limited space, so developers used difficulty to increase replay value. For instance, titles like NES’s Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden were notoriously short, with some playthroughs being finished in as fast as 10-20 minutes.

Courtesy of Retroman

The said video games were notoriously short, but their brutal enemy placements and unforgiving difficulty ensured players would spend hours mastering them. The infamous Medusa headroom in Castlevania is a prime example.

Courtesy of Reddit

Honestly, it’s the perfect example of a game developer who knows the limits of their game and uses smart (and often frustrating) enemy placement to encourage replayability. After all, when your “10-minute game” has players dying repeatedly in the first 2-3 minutes, it can hardly be called a 10-minute game.

Games that are retro-inspired, like ZPF, take this design to heart. While they are undoubtedly modern games, the core design of their gameplay hearkens back to this bygone era of gaming, hiding secrets and long-term replayability through its seemingly simple exterior. It’s a classic arcade game that embodies the spirit of game design that’s now long past.

ZPF

Harder Difficulty, Better Prestige

Still, not everything done is about replayability. Some view difficult modes as a test of skill and see harder difficulties as a way of mastery. When harder modes punish mistakes more frequently and much more harshly, only by clearing the most difficult skills can one truly brag about their skill.

Game developers have started to notice this and incorporate rewards to give the few brave enough (and skilled enough) to struggle in harder modes! From profile trophies that reward clearing difficult skills and hard-to-beat bosses to cosmetic rewards that serve as bragging rights. Fire Emblem: Three Houses, for instance, changed the start screen if one clears the hardest mode available (Maddening)

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Other games include Darktide’s badges, special outfits in Dying Light, and additional characters in Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones’ Tower of Valni. Even games with no explicit hard mode rewards, like Elden Ring and Dark Souls, will have players talking about how there are “true ways” to beat certain bosses, with the reward being pure bragging rights over others who took “easier” ways out.

Harder Difficulty, Better Content

Difficulty modes can also be used to gate content as well. Notably, games like Diablo 3 gate better gear and harder fights behind increasing difficulty levels, and Resident Evil 3 gates off items commonly found by beating Nemesis behind the game’s Hard mode.

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Other games lock additional enemies, new dialogue choices, and even new endings behind harder modes. Double Dragon 2 had a boss you couldn’t find if you didn’t play the game on Supreme Master, and Timesplitters 2 shortened levels and gave fewer objectives if you didn’t play on the game’s hard mode.

Roguelites and rogue-likes are particularly fond of this kind of difficulty as well. Games like Hades and Mega Cat Studios’ own Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood hide new secrets and unlockables by rewarding players' perseverance. Players who outlast the harder stages and last for as much as they can face harder enemies and tougher opponents are rewarded with permanent upgrades and progress to make future runs easier.

Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood

The different ways game developers use difficulty in their games might make sense, but let me tell you, not everyone enjoys this type of design. Some have even made it more known.

The Dangers of High Difficulty 

In the broader gaming sphere, the difficulty discourse has come to a head with the review bombing of Elden Ring’s latest DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree. While criticisms are to be made about the game’s worse performance, its initial launch score dropped to as low as 68%, a rarity for Fromsoft titles. Websites like PC GAMER reported that many early buyers had found the game too difficult, with stories of characters getting 1/2 shot consistently, leading to many negative reviews that found the DLC too difficult for them to enjoy.

Shadow of the Erdtree

enjoy the extra layer of depth and engagement that harder modes require, some see gaming as a leisurely escape from current issues. For them, games that are too difficult disrupt the flow and power fantasy they are looking for and severely impact their ability to enjoy their purchase.

In the end, a game needs to know when to hold itself back from being too difficult - but not too easy that it loses its player base from boredom. A game that’s too tough gets called “artificial” and “unfair” but too easy, and criticisms will arise about how it cannot challenge its player base and keep them entertained in the long run.

Food for Thought

Who’s to say who’s right in this debate? Game design is a difficult thing, and reviews are a fickle mistress. While the public debates what constitutes “fair” and “unfair” difficulties, game designers, at least, seem content to stoke the fires of a good, well-polished but difficult game. With the success of “difficult” games like Elden Ring and the widespread appeal of “hardcore” games like Dark and Darker and Escape from Tarkov (all difficult games that can feel exceedingly punishing for small missteps), hard games are certainly going nowhere. It’d be interesting to see what the future holds for those who enjoy playing difficult games.

What do you think? Should game designers continue making difficult games? Let us know in the comments. If this article has proved interesting, consider subscribing to our newsletter and keeping up-to-date on the latest gaming topics we have for you!